Trump has allowed the release of the memo, which Democrats say is a crude attempt to undermine Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation

Republicans on Friday released a controversial memo that alleges an abuse of power by the FBI in its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, after Donald Trump declassified the document and accused top officials of bias.

The House intelligence committee chairman, Devin Nunes, published the memo minutes after the president’s approval, despite a warning from the Department of Justice that it would be a “reckless” act. Democrats have portrayed the memo as a crude attempt to undermine the credibility of the Robert Mueller investigation into possible collusion between the Kremlin and members of the Trump campaign.

The memo was written by aides to Republican​ Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a staunch defender of Donald Trump and member of Trump’s transition team. The committee is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, but the inquiry has devolved into a partisan fight about the ​separate FBI investigation​, now​ led by special counsel Robert Mueller​.